house / home

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A house is a specific type of building. It is different from an apartment. A house is a physical thing – we can talk about a big house, a small house, a blue house, etc. You can also talk about doing work on your house – painting your house, remodeling your house, building a house, and so on.

The word home is more of an emotional idea – it means the place where you live, and where you have a special emotional attachment – where you feel comfortable, safe, and happy. Your “home” can be a house, an apartment, or any other place or type of structure.

We usually use “home” when describing your location:

I was at home last night.

I was in my house last night.

We also tend to use “home” with the verbs go and get:

Bye everyone. I’m going home.

What time do you normally get home from work?

Another informal word for “home” is place (as in “a place to live”):

Let’s drop by Cathy’s place on our way to the store.

I’m staying at my cousin’s place while I look for my own apartment.

Bob and Anna invited us over to their place for dinner.

There’s also a difference between housework and homework. The academic tasks from school that you need to do at home are called homework. The cleaning, organizing, and maintenance tasks that you need to do around your house are housework (sweeping the floor, washing the dishes, doing laundry, etc.)